The fate of Netaji, who formed the Indian National Army to fight British rule, remains one of the great mysteries of Indian history. Bose Pfaff, the only child of Netaji, has for long contended that her father died long ago and that his remains are at Renkoji Temple. – Rezaul H. Laskar
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s daughter Anita Bose Pfaff on Monday called for his remains to be brought back to India on the 75th anniversary of independence, saying she is convinced the remains at Tokyo’s Renkoji Temple are her father’s.
Bose Pfaff, 79, who lives in Germany, said she is ready for an attempt to extract DNA from the remains preserved at the shrine in the Japanese capital, which she described as ashes, including bones and teeth, in order to carry out tests.
“Modern technology now offers the means for sophisticated DNA-testing, provided DNA can be extracted from the remains. To those who still doubt that Netaji died on 18th August 1945, it offers a chance to obtain scientific proof that the remains kept at Renkoji Temple in Tokyo are his,” she said in a statement, referring to the long-standing theory that Netaji died in a plane crash in Formosa in the final weeks of World War 2.
“The priest of Renkoji Temple and the Japanese government agreed to such a test, as the documents in the annexures of the last governmental Indian investigation into Netaji’s death (the Justice Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry) show,” she said.
“So let us finally prepare to bring him home! Nothing in his life was more important to Netaji than his country’s independence. There was nothing that he longed for more than living in an India, free of foreign rule! Since he did not live to experience the joy of freedom, it is time that at least his remains can return to Indian soil,” she added.
The fate of Netaji, who formed the Indian National Army to fight British rule, remains one of the great mysteries of Indian history. Bose Pfaff, the only child of Netaji, has for long contended that her father died long ago and that his remains are at Renkoji Temple.
Several of Netaji’s Indian relatives, however, have contended that he survived the crash of a Japanese military aircraft at Formosa, now called Taiwan, on August 18, 1945, and that the government should continue a search to establish where he travelled to from Taiwan.
An Austria-born economist, Bose Pfaff is the daughter of Netaji and his wife Emilie Schenkl. She was only four months old when her father left Germany for Southeast Asia to take the fight to the British.
In her statement, Bose Pfaff said that 75 years after India was able to throw off the shackles of colonial rule, one of the most prominent heroes of the independence struggle, Subhas Chandra Bose, “has not returned to his motherland as yet”.
His countrymen and countrywomen erected numerous physical and spiritual monuments for him, keeping his memory alive. “Another imposing monument has been erected and is being unveiled in a very prominent location in New Delhi by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15th, 2022, the 75th anniversary of India’s independence,” she said.
“Motivated by their admiration and love for Netaji, some men and women in India not only remember Netaji. But they have continued to hope that he had not died on 18th August 1945 as the consequence of an aeroplane accident and that he would eventually be able to return to his independent motherland,” Bose Pfaff said.
“But today we have access to the originally classified inquiries of 1945 and 1946. They show that Netaji died in a foreign country on that day. Japan has provided a ‘temporary’ home to his remains at Renkoji Temple in Tokyo, cared for in devotion by three generations of priests, and honoured by the Japanese people,” she said.
Bose Pfaff added: “As Netaji’s only child I feel obliged to ensure that his dearest wish, to return to his country in freedom, will at last be fulfilled in this form and that the appropriate ceremonies to honour him will be performed.
“All Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, who can now live in freedom, constitute Netaji’s family! I salute you all as my brothers and my sisters! And I invite you to support my efforts to bring Netaji home!” – Hindustan Times, 15 August 2022
› Rezaul H. Laskar is the foreign affairs editor at the Hindustan Times.
Filed under: india, japan | Tagged: anita pfaff, death of netaji, dna test, renkoji temple, subhas chandra bose | Comments Off on Netaji’s daughter calls for her father’s remains to be brought to India, says ready for DNA tests – Rezaul H. Laskar
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